Ecosystem that predates the dinosaurs uncovered in the Alps by a hiker and melting snow
Beneath the snowy slopes lay a prehistoric surprise: an ecosystem that predates the dinosaurs, revealed by melting snow before being stumbled upon by a hiker in the Italian Alps.
Beneath the snowy slopes lay a prehistoric surprise: an ecosystem that predates the dinosaurs, revealed by melting snow before being stumbled upon by a hiker in the Italian Alps.
The discovery, made public Wednesday, includes well-preserved footprints of reptiles and amphibians that scientists say date back 280 million years to a geologic period known as the Permian period.
“Dinosaurs had not yet emerged at this time, but the animals responsible for the largest footprints here would still have been impressive, reaching up to 2-3 meters in length,” said Cristiano Dal Sasso, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in Milan, where the finds are now on display.
The fossils were discovered in the mountains of northern Italy's Lombardy region after the snow and ice that once covered them melted away, scientists say, as a result of the ongoing climate crisis.
Researchers move a boulder containing fossilized footprints in the Italian Alps. Elio Della Ferrera / Museo di Storia Naturale di MilanoClaudia Steffensen was hiking along a trail in the Valtellina Orobie mountain range in the summer of 2023 when she stepped on a gray stone marked with unusual patterns.“My husband was in front of me, looking straight ahead, while I was looking toward my feet. I put my foot on a rock, which struck me as odd as it seemed more like a slab of cement. I then noticed these strange circular designs with wavy lines. I took a closer look and realized they were footprints,” Steffensen told the Guardian newspaper.
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